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The Caucasian mountains, one of the most charming places in the world, have been famous for their beauty long ago. The national park of Borjomi – Kharagauli, stretched for more than 700 square kilometers, is the largest in Europe. The park is situated on the altitude from 850 to 2500 meters above the sea level; its nature remains intact until today. The picturesqueness of the place, accessibility, climate useful for health and, the most important, the mineral springs made Borjomi one of the most popular places of recreation in the former Soviet Union. Scientists and ethnographer speak about the «climatic phenomenon». Borjomi – the purest glacier water from Bakuriani mountains, groves of relict pines, growing at the foot of the rocks – all this creates a peculiar ecosystem, giving birth to the world-famous mineral waters of the Borjomi gorge.

The pompous birth of Borjomi

The nature of the Borjomi valley reminds the luxury of Persian carpets: arabesque lines of mountain ranges, transparent lace of quivering centennial pines and the purest azure of the skies. Coming into the world among this luxury and purity, the Borjomi water make a statement, interrupting the mysterious quietness of the valley. The Borjomi deposit is located in the central part of Adjaro-Imeretin range on absolute altitude 760-920 meters above sea level.

Formation of unique Borjomi mineral water starts on the highest peaks of Borjomi- Kharagauli National park. Around the Lomis-mta peak (height – 2187 meters) the igneous-sedimentary rocks of the middle Cretaceous are exposed (their age is 50 million years), which can be traced at a distance of over 50 kilometers and immerse under the Borjomi gorge till the depth of 1,5-3 kilometers. Along the invisible micro-fractures in these geological solids rain and melted water leaks through. It is well-known that igneous-sedimentary rocks contain all the elements spread in the Earth crust, and being in contact with the waters from Lomis-mta for a long time, these elements bloom out and gradually transfer into the water structure. Mixing of carbon dioxide with waters filtered in the solids of Lomis-mta takes place in the aquifer system of the middle Cretaceous, and under the influence of high temperature mineral water lightened by carbon dioxide rises to the earth surface. Deep drilled development wells (the depth is 1100-1500 meters) lead the Borjomi mineral water to the earth surface. If you shake a bottle with carbonated water well and then open it, the water forced by carbon dioxide will outrush in a fountain. Borjomi wells work under a similar principle. The water is saturated with carbon dioxide being under the ground, and the gas then forces it on the surface along the wells with depth 1100–1500 meters, without using any pumps.

Deposit exploration

The exploration of the Borjomi deposit was conducted since 1927 Borjomi deposit. The total of 57 wells with depth from 18,4 to 1 502 meters were drilled in the period from 1927 till 1982. Two mineral springs, Evgenievsky and Ekaterininsky, existed before the start of exploration operations on the right bank of the Borjomula river. They became history of the Borjomi valley as one of the first discovered springs and were called so after colonel Е.А. Golovin and his daughter, cured with Borjomi water (link to the Museum section). Springs, situated at the distance of 50 meters from each other had total discharge of 90m3/day. Unfortunately, in 1957 both springs dried out. Today three operational sites are located in the Borjomi valley: Central - within the limits of the Borjomi town; Likansky – within the limits of Likani village, and Vashlovani-Kvibissky – in the territory of Vashlovani and Kvibisi village. 9 development wells (No.No.1, 21, 21z, 41r, 59, 25z, 37, 38, 54) are located in the territory of these sites. As a result of exploration works in 1957–1978, the boundaries of Borjomi deposit were extended significantly, new exploration sites were discovered and reserves of Borjomi water were increased greatly, which presently allows extracting and bottling Borjomi for supply in 30 countries of the world. The spring location and its number are marked on each label. The collector of Borjomi mineral water is a powerful (more than 1200 meters) aquifer of carbonaceous rocks. The upper part of the aquifer with capacity of 400–450 meters is the most water-abundant.

Consistency of Borjomi

There are plenty of various mineral waters in the Caucasus, but none of them has a similar composition. As from the 19th century over 100 scientific papers and medical researches about the unique properties of were Borjomi written. For more than 170 years Borjomi mineral springs have been subject of careful examinations of geologists and chemists, who confirm the constancy of discharge, temperature, physicochemical characteristics of water and its mineral composition. The chemical and microbiological analysis of water is performed at the factory every hour, in compliance with the rigid European standards. After the October revolution the first GOST (state standard) concerning natural mineral waters was written in Russia, which was created on the model of Borjomi. And today its composition is the same as it was over a century ago. Tested by dozens international research companies, equipped with the most modern technologies, «Borjomi» mineral water is bottled on the extraction site and is delivered to the consumers preserving all of its useful properties.